Teacher News

Details of a comprehensive study which was undertaken by the ESRI of educational governance and financing across the three different sectors of second-level schools in Ireland, namely, voluntary secondary schools, vocational schools, and community/comprehensive schools, has been published today

The research shows that voluntary secondary schools, which account for the majority of the State’s second-level pupils, are far more ... click to read full post & comments

Following the recent budgetary announcement made by Minister Ruairí Quinn to allocate additional resource teaching posts to schools for children with special educational needs to meet the increase in demand for supports, the NCSE has announce that an additional 455 resource teaching posts over and above the original allocation of ... click to read full post & comments

As we come into Parent/Teacher meeting season, the impact of the ASTI industrial action is likely to mean that many secondary school students will be sent home early. Due to a ban on meetings outside school hours by the ASTI, Parent/Teacher meetings, which would normally have been scheduled for after school, have now to be scheduled inside the normal school day. In general, the meetings will have to start at ... click to read full post & comments

An initiative by the Irish Educational Publishers Association (IEPA), which publishes 90pc of school books, means that Anti-bullying awareness adverts will be inserted in a large percentage of primary and secondary school textbooks by the end of 2014. The initiative has the backing of the Department of Education, under whose direction the ads were designed.

The Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton T.D., attended at St Catherine’s Infant National School, in Cabra today, to launch a Breakfast Club Pilot Programme which has been developed by Healthy Food for All and funded by the Kellogg Corporate Citizenship Fund.

The Pilot Programme which started in January in four Dublin Schools – St Catherine’s Junior National School Cabra, St Eithne’s Girls School, Edenmore, Holy Trinity National School Donaghmede and Holywell Educate Together, Swords - aims to measure the impact a ... click to read full post & comments

A building which was originally part of developer Jim Mansfield's plans for a Boutqiue Golf Village at Citywest, where visitors could shop for clothes, has become classrooms for two new national schools. The Department of Education leased the building from the receivers of Jim Mansfield's company and made them available to ... click to read full post & comments(1)

The government's plans to reduce funding for the education system in Ireland could result in many primary schools running out of money next year.

According to the Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN), if there are cuts to the capitation grant, many schools in the country could find themselves unable to pay their bills.

Deputy president of the group Gerry Murphy said that parents alone will "no longer be able to keep schools afloat".

"It is beyond belief that the government is now actively considering a reduction in the basic funding of schools," he commented.

Earlier this month, government ministers met to discuss whether 400 million euros should be taken out of the budget for primary and secondary schools in Ireland.

Mr Murphy's comments come after research carried out by international expert Jim Spinks from Melbourne University on behalf of IPPN revealed that 85 per cent of schools are dependent on fundraising and voluntary contributions in order to stay open.

It also showed that medium-sized schools spend 23,000 euros more a year than what they receive from the government.

There could be a number of special needs assistants (SNAs) who lose their job helping pupils in primary and secondary schools as a result of budget cuts in Ireland.

Up to five per cent of the 10,000 SNAs in the Irish education system could be lost in an attempt to reduce the budget by 230 million euros, the Irish Independent reports.

Trade unions and disability groups have voiced their concerns that this move will affect the country's "most vulnerable" kids.

Chief executive of Barnados Fergus Finlay told the newspaper: "It's getting to the point where it's almost an interference with the constitutional rights of children because you can't provide a proper education without them."

Earlier this month, Ireland's cabinet ministers met to discuss proposals over cutting the education budget as part of December 2010's financial plan.

Sources revealed that in order to save money, registration fees for third-level students could double from 1,500 euros to 3,000.